Sometimes I’ll have one of those moments, when I feel I’ve been a successful parent. This Saturday I had one of them.
My oldest son has been on this New York city kick lately. He’s been drawing skyscrapers and traffic signs and talking about the Statue of Liberty. I promised him we’d go soon. He’d been already, but doesn’t remember much. I told him we’d go see the buildings, but the statue would have to wait until the warmer weather. So with no particular plans off we went. Of course everything was a big hit, the bus ride from my brother’s place in New Jersey, going through the Lincoln Tunnel and ending up at the Port Authority( that’s where the bus lives). If at anytime you ever become bored with life take a child out for a day. They will show you things that you have forgotten or can no longer see because you’ve become so accustomed to your surroundings.
It was amusing that my son said, “New Jersey is so beautiful!”
The highlight for me was when we were in Toys R Us and Noah spotted a Batman snowglobe. He has started a snowglobe collection and was very excited to see his favorite superhero immortalized in glass and snow. This particular Toys R Us has a huge Ferris Wheel in the center of the store and the boys were both dying to go for a ride. At $4 a ticket I was not as thrilled, but I was willing to give them the experience. I gave Noah a choice, ” You can have the snowglobe to take home or we can all go on the ride, but you can’t have both.” He immediately put the snowglobe back and said, “let’s all go for a ride!”
I was a proud momma. He chose the experience over a material possession. He might not get it now, but it’s in there somewhere. He’ll always have that ride, even when the snowglobes end up being objects long forgotten.
Sometimes as parents we forget about the newness of life and try to fill our children up with “things” they don’t necessarily need. My boys remind of this every time they discover a new bug or ask how something works. Their eyes light up with wonder and amazement at this “new” knowledge. It is definitely something that cannot be bought, but last a lifetime.
Anonymous says
love it
Uncle Wally says
Very nicely written! And I'm so glad he thought NJ was beautiful!
Eva Gallant says
What a fun thing to do with your kids!
Was blog hopping and landed here. Hope you'll return the visit!
Anonymous says
It's all about letting the kids explore the world around them. Experiences are better than obtaining toys that get left by the way side. It is nice that you let them make that choice.